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Ricky Weiss completes grueling Spartan Death Race for a second time

One must be a physical beast to do something like the Death Race. Ricky Weiss does it with a quiet, yet mighty, strength. He's actually smiling in most of the photos from the Death Race. Yes, smiling after days of elective torture.

Weiss, a fitness instructor at Boot Camp Fitness and Training and at Sweat Therapy Fitness in Tallahassee, recently completed, for the second time, a Spartan Death Race in Pittsfield, Vt. In case you have any doubts about how challenging this race is, the url for its website pulls no punches: http://www.youmaydie.com.

The grueling event took 66 hours total with 58 hours of active physical and mental challenges. You know, fun stuff like carrying an 80-pound bag of cement up a treacherous mountain, hollowing out a log and submerging yourself in frigid water.

It even included a HAZMAT suit and an adult diaper. I won't expound here, but let's just say there were hours of no bathroom breaks.

Competitors covered between 80 and 110 miles during the race.

"I think New York Times described it as 'Survivor' meets 'Jack Ass,' Weiss said. "It tends to be kind of an ultra endurance event with a lot of asinine and really dumb tasks thrown into the mix."

Each year, hundreds of people start the race; only a fraction finish. Weiss has completed the race the past two out of three years. He didn't finish on his first attempt.

If you're wondering what kind of person signs up for something like the Death Race, the answer is a kind, mild-mannered social worker.

Weiss is one of my trainers at Boot Camp. I've never heard him raise his voice. During workouts, he offers encouragement with an even-keeled tone: "Those push-ups look good, Rebeccah." There is no yelling, no theatrics.

One must be a physical beast to do something like the Death Race. Weiss does it with a quiet, yet mighty, strength. He's actually smiling in most of the photos from the Death Race. Yes, smiling after days of elective torture.

What did he get for all that punishment? A plastic skull trophy, but mostly, the satisfaction of knowing he pushed passed his limits.

"It was a personal challenge," Weiss said. "I needed something to kind of get me to the next level, and it becomes a kind of addictive thing."

I enjoy pushing my limits, but I'm more likely to become addicted to ice cream.

The Death Race is one of the most extreme events in a crop of outdoor adventure races that have popped up across the country in recent years. Other events offer a taste of what the Death Race serves up in heaps. I'm up for the 5K or 10K version, but don't see a Death Race in my future. Ever.

Weiss is going back to test his limits again in 2015.

"It's a great way to reset your perspective in life," he told Reporter Nicole Tschetter this spring before the race. "Whether I finish or not, I come back and life looks a little bit different and the things that used to upset me in normal day-to-day life don't get to me as much anymore."

Rebeccah Lutz is the multimedia news editor. She is currently writing a blog about fitness and her own 12-Week Transformation Challenge. Follow her on Tallahassee.com, on Twitter @RebeccahLutz, and on Facebook. You can contact her at rlutz@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2391.